One of the oldest no-code app builders, Bubble can help you build web and mobile apps without writing a single line of code. Bubble provides a comprehensive point-and-click visual development environment, where users can design interfaces, set up workflows, and create databases, without writing any code.

In this review, we'll examine the features of Bubble, its user interface, ease of use, integration and extensibility, deployment and maintenance options, pricing, documentation, and how it compares to its peers..

Bubble: Features

Bubble AI is one of the platforms’ most interesting features. You can use it to create a blueprint for an app, and then review its features, and refine it as per your needs. It’ll then generate the app, which you can then customize using the UI builder.

To design the app you can drag-and-drop UI elements into the canvas and arrange them as required. The platform gives you access to a wide range of pre-built UI elements, such as buttons, input forms, and containers like popups, which can all be customized to match your apps’ look and feel.

Best of all, you can also arrange elements responsively for various screen sizes to ensure your app has a consistent user experience across devices.

Then there’s Bubble’s marketplace, which offers a wide range of both free and paid plugins that can help you extend the functionality of your app. You can use the plugins to integrate with popular services such as payment gateways, analytics tools, communication platforms, log in services, and more.

Similarly, the marketplace also hosts lots of free and paid templates for pre-built apps that you can use as starting points.

Bubble also has an AI page creator that can generate pages for your apps based on a description or prompt. This is meant to simplify the process of creating common page types, such as landing pages, forms, and dashboards, which you can then tweak to meet your requirements.

In addition to the apps’ UI, you can also use Bubble to visually define actions that occur when specific events are triggered in the app, such as a button click. Bubble also has a flexible database management system that you can easily connect with your app, and manage, via a graphical interface.

Bubble: Interface and Ease of Use

Bubble’s interface is pretty intuitive for anyone who has worked with no-code tools before. All of its interfaces, including the UI builder, the workflow editor, and others are logically organized and easily navigable.

The platform’s app design interface includes a canvas where you can drag-and-drop all kinds of elements and components to create the layout of your app. Additionally, you also have the ability to group the various elements, adjust their spacing, and more.

On the left of the canvas are its various sections, led by the Design section that houses all options to help you create and arrange UI elements. Then there’s the Workflow section where you define how your app reacts to user interactions, like button clicks, by setting up a sequence of actions that Bubble will perform in response to those events.

There’s also the Data section where you can define how your app accepts data from the user, and manage the database. Another important section is the Plugins section from where you can browse, install, and tweak add-ons to extend your app’s functionality.

Together with the ready-made templates for all kinds of use cases, and the AI app and page builders, Bubble offers enough to help ease users into the platform.

That said, first timers may find the sheer number of options in the designer a little overwhelming. So while you can get started with your app rather quickly, it might take you some time and effort before you can utilize the platform's full potential.

Bubble: Integration and Extensibility

One of Bubble’s USPs is its extensive integration and extensibility options. We’ve already mentioned its extensive marketplace of pre-built plugins. The platform can also integrate with AI tools such as ChatGPT, and DALL-E, and you can go further by integrating it with dozens of popular apps thanks to Zapier.

The platform also offers several extensibility options for advanced users. For starters, you’ll appreciate its API connector that allows you to interface with external systems by connecting your app to any JSON or XML-based API.

The API Connector also supports various authentication methods like OAuth2. You can also go beyond the platform’s capabilities by integrating custom JavaScript code to extend your app.

In terms of extensibility, Bubble's database is also quite flexible and supports custom data types and fields. This makes it fairly straightforward to create complex data structures and relationships, and tailor the app to fit your unique requirements.

And while Bubble can’t create native mobile apps yet, several users have used tools like Phonegap and GoNative to turn Bubble web apps into native apps.

Bubble: Deployment and Maintenance

Deploying apps created with Bubble is straightforward.

You can preview your app at any time to ensure everything works properly. Once you're satisfied, you can then deploy the app to a Bubble-provided domain, or to a custom domain from a third-party domain registrar like GoDaddy, in a couple of clicks.

The platform uses Cloudflare Content Delivery Network (CDN) for all apps to ensure your apps can be accessed quickly from anywhere in the world.

In terms of scaling, when your app starts grabbing eyeballs, Bubble can increase traffic and data storage needs as required. You can ask the platform to do this automatically, which shields against sudden spikes in traffic, and is perhaps more suitable for large-scale apps. You can also scale manually for better control and to keep costs in check.

Like all good app builders, Bubble also has a version control system that you can use to track revisions. It’ll help you make and test changes in a development version of the app, and then deploy them to its live instance without much effort.

You can also use Bubble to connect with popular analytics tools to track visits to your apps and get all kinds of insights. The platform also keeps detailed logs of every action performed within your app to help you track user interactions, and more. You can essentially use these logs to identify potential issues and troubleshoot problems.

Bubble: Pricing and Documentation

Bubble offers a tiered pricing model to suit different needs.

The free plan is good to learn the ropes and familiarize yourself with the platform. Its paid plans start at $29/month for the Starter Plan that’s meant for individual developers, followed by the $119/month Growth Plan for building complex apps, and the $349/month Team Plan for larger businesses.

To publish your app you’ll need to subscribe to one of the paid plans, all of which also offer the option to deploy to a custom domain. The paid plans also offer security features, and can handle more traffic. Starting with the Growth Plan you also get the ability to collaborate on the apps with more than one user.

The platform has a lot of learning resources. There are written tutorials, step-by-step guides, and video walkthroughs that’ll help new users through their journey of getting oriented with the platform, to building complex apps.

Then there’s Bubble’s Academy that offers structured courses for everyone from beginners to experienced campaigners. The platform also points to various other community built learning resources, both free and paid.

Talking of community, Bubble’s community-supported forum is the primary outlet for dispensing help and support.

Bubble: The Competition

Bubble goes up against several other no-code platforms, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

For instance, Adalo can create both web and mobile apps, and offers a more streamlined experience for creating native mobile apps. However, developers often cite it as being less versatile than Bubble when it comes to creating web apps.

Similarly, there’s Thunkable that you can use to build native mobile apps. However, it too lacks Bubble’s comprehensive web app capabilities. That said, both Adalo and Thunkable have a less steep learning curve than Bubble.

Then there’s Glide that can create web and mobile apps from your existing data. While it is often cited as being simpler to use than Bubble, it doesn’t offer the same flexibility and scalability that you get with Bubble, especially when it comes to complex apps.

Bubble: Final Verdict

Bubble offers all the features you’d expect from a no-code platform to create everything from simple to complex apps. It has intuitive point-and-click interfaces, and also caters to advanced users who want to extend their apps through API integrations, and custom code.

Bubble primarily focuses on web app development, and while it can be used to create mobile-friendly apps, they are essentially web apps optimized for mobile browsers. However, its developers have announced that you’ll soon be able to use Bubble to create native mobile apps as well.

All things considered, Bubble stands out for its versatility and depth, and is a good option especially for those looking to create complex and scalable apps.

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Lovable is a relatively new entrant in the rapidly expanding field of no-code platforms that help businesses spin up all kinds of apps without writing a single line of code.

In this review, we will explore Lovable’s features, interface and ease of use, integration and extensibility, deployment and maintenance, pricing, documentation, and how it stands in comparison to its competition.

Lovable: Features

One of the main reasons for Lovable’s growing popularity is its AI app builder.

You describe your app idea in natural language, which the platform will use to create a fully functional app for you. The AI prompt can be as simple as “Create a login page” to something more complex like “Can you build me a CRM app and hook it up to a database, along with an authentication system that allows users to sign up, and log in.”

Once you enter the prompt, Lovable’s AI builder will generate the app’s user interface (UI), along with the backend, complete with the necessary database tables, forms to input customer details, and even set up functionality for viewing, editing, and deleting customer records.

Going one step ahead, you can also use the AI to further edit and refine your app by describing changes to the AI.

Besides AI, Lovable also offers an array of pre-built templates that you can use as starting points to speed up the development process. These templates cover a wide range of application types, such as marketplaces, CRMs, analytics, cryptocurrency trading, and more.

This is especially helpful if you are a green horn developer, and don’t have a clear idea for the app, or someone who wants to roll out apps quickly.

On the backend, Lovable relies on Supabase, which is an open source alternative to Google’s Firebase platform. It’ll help you add databases, authentication services, and other backend functionalities, to your apps.

You can also hook Lovable to your GitHub, and it’ll transfer your project's code to your GitHub repository for two-way sync of edits. This means the platform will be aware of any manual commits you make in the repo, and roll them into the app on its own. This functionality is somewhat unique, as most other no-code platforms just hold on to the code.

If you don’t have a GitHub repo, you can also view, and even edit the code in Lovable itself.

Lovable: Interface and Ease of Use

Lovable has a simple dashboard with a textbox smack in the middle of the screen where you can describe your app idea.

If you’re new to building apps, Lovable suggests leveraging pre-built styles to improve your app’s appearance. Lovable points to 21st.dev where you can browse pre-built designs, and then copy its prompt into Lovable.

After you’ve described the project, Lovable will tell you how it’ll go about building the initial version of the app, describing its features, and design elements. On the right, it’ll tell you the files it’ll create, and then write the code.

When it’s done spinning up the first iteration, it’ll open it up for preview. You can then tweak the layout, and other aspects of the app via more prompts. For more control, you can even make edits to the different elements inside the app using Lovable’s Figma-like visual editor.

You can also attach images to guide the AI. For instance, you can browse the designs at Dribble, screenshot the relevant section, upload it to Lovable, and ask it to redesign the relevant section of the app based on the uploaded design.

The dashboard also gives you access to projects that other users have built. Explore a few to see how others have used the AI to refine, and fine tune their apps. You can also use one of the templates to get off the ground, and then refine it with the AI builder.

The intuitive interface makes it fairly simple to navigate through the different pages in your app. You can also easily switch between the manual edit mode, and the AI mode.

Lovable ensures the UI of your app is responsive, and works well on both desktops and mobile devices. You can easily toggle between web, and mobile views to visualize how your app looks across different screen sizes.

Very helpfully the platform also lets you define global styles by adding a system prompt in the project settings’ Knowledge field, such as “make sure all buttons have rounded corners.” From then on, everytime you ask Lovable to add a button, the AI builder will ensure it adheres to this predefined style.

Lovable: Integration and Extensibility

Lovable leverages popular tools and frameworks such as React, Tailwind CSS, and the Vite JavaScript build tool to optimize frontend performance. This helps ensure your app adheres to industry best practices.

As we’ve mentioned before, Lovable natively integrates with Supabase for backend database capabilities, and more. Supabase can also handle things like user authentication, and supports several authentication providers, from plain email signups, to Google logins, and more.

One way to extend your app, is to ask Lovable AI to modify the database to connect the frontend UI to the backend, for instance, to create and save login details. Based on this information, Lovable will then automatically create the appropriate tables as required, and it’ll write the SQL for you.

You can also instruct Lovable to integrate payment gateways, social media APIs, or data analytics tools directly into your project. Simply ask the AI to "help me integrate Stripe into my app," and then follow its instructions to implement the integration, which basically involves handing it your API keys.

Remember however, Stripe integration doesn’t work in the preview. To test the integration, make sure to first deploy your app. Also refer to the platform’s documentation to see how to make test payments using dummy card details.

If you are looking for something more than simple payments, for instance, subscriptions and role-based access based on payment tiers, Lovable recommends using Supabase.

Besides Stripe, Supabase, and GitHub, Lovable also has a list of over a dozen verified integrations that work well with the platform. These include OpenAI, Anthropic, Replicate, Highcharts, p5.js, Clerk, and more.

Then there are several other unverified integrations, which will work with the platform, but might make you jump through more hoops. There’s Perplexity, Zapier, Google Workspace, Notion, Calendly, SendGrid, Ticketmaster, and others.

Lovable: Deployment and Maintenance

Deploying and maintaining apps built on Lovable is pretty straightforward as well.

After you’ve built and previewed your app, essentially all it takes to deploy it is a single click. By default, your Lovable app is accessible via a Lovable subdomain, but you can also connect it to any custom domain you own.

You can maintain, and debug your apps using the Lovable AI. For most issues, the platform will give you a “Try to fix” button that will automatically solve many issues for you. If that doesn’t work, you can describe the error in detail to the AI, and ask it for directions.

One of the best things about Lovable is that it actively monitors your code, and might recommend refactoring your code to make it more scalable, and easier to maintain.

The platform also includes built-in version control, which allows you to track changes, bookmark important versions, and roll back to previous versions, without much effort. This makes it easier to track, and review your progress, and undo any mistakes.

Lovable: Pricing and Documentation

Lovable has a tiered pricing plan, starting with a free tier with limited functionality, followed by several paid plans that offer more features and higher usage limits.

For instance, on the free plan, you can prompt the AI five times/day, with a total limit of 30 messages/month.

The Starter plan costs $20/month and increases this to 100 messages a month, with no daily caps. The Launch plan at $50/month bumps this up to 250 messages, while with the $100/month Scale1 plan you get 500 messages/month, but can pay more for additional messages. All paid plans also enable you to publish your app on custom domains.

Lovable handholds you through a series of illustrated introductory documentation, quick start guides, and video tutorials. They cover everything from helping you write the right AI prompts, to fleshing out your apps by integrating them with Supabase, Stripe, and other verified and unverified services.

You can take your queries to Lovable’s Discord community, while paid users also get access to premium support options.

Lovable: The competition

Lovable shares the space with other AI-assisted no-code app builders.

For instance, Bubble, one of the popular platforms, too has an AI builder, but it places a 300 characters limit to the prompts. Bubble is often touted as a good option for building complex apps, as it offers greater flexibility, but has a steeper learning curve.

Then there’s Softr, which again places a 200 characters limit on its prompts. It’s very user friendly as well, though it might fall short for those of you who need deep customization, and control over their apps.

Hostinger has also recently ventured into the no-code space with their Horizons tool. Just like with Lovable, you can use Horizons to build, edit, and enhance your apps just by using AI. However, Horizons is still under active development, and doesn’t offer all the features, and conveniences you get with Lovable.

Lovable: Final Verdict

Lovable’s extensive use of AI for everything from creating the app, to adding new functionality, and debugging, makes it one of the best no-code platforms for anyone who’s new to building apps.

You’ll have to hone your prompt writing skills to get the most out of the platform, especially if you are on the lower tiers of its paid plans. Based on the list of featured projects, it appears the platform can manage rather complex workflows, which is a definite plus.

All things considered, Lovable’s user-friendly interface, integration capabilities, and extensibility, make it a compelling option for anyone looking to build apps in record time.

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